Unless you were among the few hundred people lining the 400 block of Beloit Avenue in Forest Park on the chilly-crisp but sunny Saturday morning of Oct. 27, you missed one of the most colorful and creative gatherings of the season.

It was the first Flapper Ghost Casket Races, an event concocted by Laurie Kokenes, the director of the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce and Development, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of that organization and, in turn, promote some of the businesses and organizations that dot the suburb. (Also seasonally significant is that there are so many cemeteries in the suburb that it was once referred to as the "Village of Cemeteries," its dead-to-living ratio calculated at 30 to 1.)

Fifteen teams competed, pushing wheeled caskets, lavishly and thematically designed, nearly a full block north, where they were able to safely bang into bales of hay.

The caskets were conceived and created in the weeks before the race. "We got together, had some drinks, and we had an idea," one of the contestants said. Each of the teams, consisting of four or five people charged with pushing their casket down the block, were costumed; for instance, the gang dressed in black suits as Secret Service agents with their "Running For President" casket.

Shortly after 9:30 a.m. a werewolf announced the rules, and a cop began to signal the start of each two-casket heat with a starter's pistol.

It was a happy gathering along the sidewalk: kids in costume (there was trick-or-treating scheduled for later) and a few people who gladly admitted to hangovers (there was a masquerade ball the night before, also part of the chamber's 100th).

The event was a grand success. Everyone involved was already thinking of making it an annual Halloween treat, and some people were planning next year's caskets.

Space does not allow for a complete accounting and detailing of all race entrants, each of which had its artistic charms. But it is impossible not to mention the collaborative effort of Schauer Hardware and the folks from Nadeau's Ice Sculpture. Titled "Ice Hammer," it was a casket carved from ice and set upon a table with wheels. It weighed more than 800 pounds, a daunting weight that understandably compelled one of the team members to chant, "We're gonna lose. We're gonna lose. …"

The local park district, whose team members seemed particularly fit, won first place, hitting the finish line at 16.53 seconds, just edging out the Tooth Fairies, brought to you by a local dentist, who came in at 16:97. McGaffer's Imbibers, a tie-dyed concoction with a Grateful Dead theme representing a local tavern, took third.

The slowest casket was pushed by teachers from the nearby Cicero school system. It had a Titanic theme and was festooned with several Styrofoam icebergs.

Not in the running at all was the coffin you see in the accompanying photo, the entry from Centuries & Sleuths, the remarkable bookstore at 7419 Madison St.

"I knew we didn't have a chance," said owner Augie Aleksy. "But it was terrific fun."

The independent bookstore is a vanishing breed, perhaps not as quick to leave the scene as some of the large chain operations (remember the Borders stores at Michigan Avenue and Pearson Street and at Lake Park Avenue and 53rd Street?), though both species are beleaguered by the Internet.

But all bookstores have their joys, especially around the holidays.

Centuries & Sleuths is among the best in the land. Its oak bookcases are filled with best-sellers and surprises. It is a place for lingering in two Windsor chairs, a rocking chair and a church pew.

Aleksy is a passionate man and also something of a showman, orchestrating all manner of events at his store. Of course, he hosts the conventional readings and signings (Andrew Vachss on Friday and Robert Goldsborough on Nov. 18), but also opens his shop for literary club meetings and theatrical presentations.

He is ever enthusiastic and smart, and he loves books. The store's website (centuriesandsleuths.com) features this quotation from "The Haunted Bookshop," written by Christopher Morley in 1919, "We have what you want, though you may not know you want it."

That's the thrill inherent in any bookstore. And there are quiet shopping/eating/drinking thrills nearby too. The bookshop sits amid a few blocks' stretch of stores, restaurants and saloons on Madison Street. Most are independently owned, which gives the street a lovely small town feel, very much alive with surprises.

Listen to Rick Kogan on WBEZ's "The Afternoon Shift," weekdays from 2-4 p.m. Among many guests, he interviews photographer Howard Schatz and Eddie Payton on his new book about his brother, Bears great Walter Payton.